The Last Goodbye
by Heather Michelle
Summary: The LONG-awaited (sorry, my fault) sequel to The First Goodbye!


A/N: I'm back

_A/N: I'm back!It's been a while, I know, but I had to make the sequel to "The First Goodbye."And here is chapter one!Enjoy!If you haven't read "The First Goodbye," you may be thoroughly confused.The sequel concentrates on the span of time during the 1st and 3rd chapters of "The First Goodbye," which is essentially 5 years after the last chapter…This is about a year after the events in chapter 3.Okay, now that it's all clarified, on with the sequel!_

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**The Last Goodbye**

Chapter One: Escape

By Heather Michelle

The light bulb swung, shedding only dim light across their "new home."Hermione cringed upon entering the bunker.She knew it was a necessary precaution; he would find her if she didn't hide.Her once magically-encrypted home with Ron wasn't safe.Not to mention that she never would be.She felt _him through and through.He was always there, coursing through her veins like fire, especially when he killed.Her heart broke every single time.Right now, she wondered if moving into this underground hellhole was the best thing she could do._

Her trunk thudded the stained concrete floor as her concentration on it faded.Her legs crashed to the ground and she clung to the warm floor.Tears ran their perpetuated trails down her cheek, across her nose, out of her heart.Her formerly bright yellow robes had worn away; she claimed they were soiled by maturity.How naïve she had been.She let her feelings get in the way.No book could have prepared her for the life she lived.Nothing she had ever read made any mention of what to do when your best friend (or more than that, even) turns into a wizard more powerful than Voldemort.Yes, it is ironic that it had only been a few years ago that his name wasn't allowed to be mentioned.Now they had a new and greater evil.His killing spree was at an all-time high.Muggles were killed left, right, up, down and in-between.Hermione could have saved them.Every single face flashed across her mind; all were contorted in terror at the fate that was soon to become of them.All except one.

"Albus…" she whispered, afraid that her breath would destroy his memory.She felt herself being lifted.Ron.A kiss on the forehead.There was placement on a cot.No one from the Ministry was left except for Hermione and Ron.She wondered if Harry- she cringed at the name. No, he wasn't Harry.Not the evil man that had killed millions.No, that was NOT her Harry.At the same time, she knew that she had unmade her Harry.Forgiveness wasn't an option.She prayed he would find her.She wanted to die with her victims.They were hers, not his, considering her selfishness.She had just wanted Harry.Wanted was most definitely the wrong word.More like, say, needed.She tingled all over just thinking about him.A malevolent wizard with a cold heart?Never.Just a 16-year-old boy with eyes that could soften the defensive shield she kept up.

Did he keep her alive out of torture?She had tried to kill herself at least 10 times in the past six months, but she couldn't do so without destroying Harry, her life force and ironic savior.His existence pulled her back to life.She had to destroy him, or what had become of him, rather, before she could be at peace.Strangely enough, that's what she feared the most.What should she wish to be happy about?Either way, she would end it all.

Darkness had engulfed the room.Hermione glanced at Ron, sleeping on the faded green cot just a few feet from hers.She knew Ron had made restraints for her limbs and head.She felt them, yet again, when she pulled upward.She laughed out loud.For a bad Hogwarts student, Ron could sure tie knots, absolutely no magic involved.It was "too dangerous to use any," he claimed, especially for Hermione.Her self-destructive behavior had led to her captivity.

"Ron…. Psst!Ron!" she whispered.He turned, rubbed his eyes sleepily and asked her what she wanted."I'm just… lonely." she replied cautiously, wondering if he could see through her façade.He got up, turning on the light.He then sighed, moving to sit on her cot.Tilting himself to face her, his right arm straddled her body, the rest of him staying on the narrow left side of her cot.He looked down at her, her eyes brimming with tears.He brought his left hand up to her face to wipe her soggy cheek.He was, despite all of Hermione's daydreaming, all she had left.The only other man in her life killed people for a living.Ron, on the other hand, well, his job was taking care of her.She loved both, and did so very differently.She loved Ron for being a friend.She had loved Harry for not only who he was, but who she was when she was with him.She writhed against the fetters Ron had placed on her, just to show him how helpless she felt.

"No, Hermione.No, you can't.I'm sorry."Ron explained.She knew that he wasn't going to let her go initially.He loved her enough to know better."I'm going back to bed, 'Mione." he whispered, bending down to kiss her goodnight, which he had expected to land on her forehead.Little did he know that Hermione had moved.Straining, she pulled herself up on the cot to meet his lips.Ron was stunned- they hadn't kissed like this since…They had NEVER kissed like this.It wasn't a friendly kiss, not at all.Hermione's body arched against his, and he lost his senses, or gained their full capacities all at once- he wasn't sure.He couldn't think about anything except how her body felt against him.

Hermione felt his arms encircle her, frantically trying to pull her closer, but the restraints held.She broke the kiss, keeping her eyes closed as he kissed her once more.She felt her left arm being released, and promptly moved it into his hair- his funny-looking _black hair.Why had she started to do this, again?She didn't even remember- all she knew, or in this case, imagined, was that Harry was kissing her, needing her, feeling her, desiring her.She fell into her own fantasy as Ron cut off the other restraints and proceeded to kiss Hermione the way she was kissing him- in an extremely lusty fashion.His ears weren't so red anymore- the awkward, normally jovial Ron that Hermione had once known evaporated into thin air after the severity of Harry's newfound position had been established._

He knew she was probably thinking of him.He knew all too well. But for once, he wanted to believe that she actually loved him.Living with Hermione, broken as she was, wasn't exactly a joy ride, and it hurt Ron to know that she could never feel the same way he did for her…But just being with her made him sane enough to move on.And that he did.They got carried away by loneliness. The light bulb swayed above them, seemingly aware that feelings undulated, even if they were misdirected, as it did.


End file.
